Mike Brown

Name: Michael “Mike” John-Mark Velasquez Brown

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Grade: 12th

School: George Hunter High School

Hobbies and Interests: Playing guitar, baseball, partying, singing, country music

Appearance: Of mixed Caucasian and Filipino descent, Mike’s skin is a light tan, although it has a tendency to become darker in the summer. While fortunate enough to have irregular outbreaks of acne without the use of creams, when they do appear, they are usually clustered around his hairline, usually resulting in him wearing baseball caps. At 6’0 and 160 lbs, his figure is lean but athletic, owing to years spent playing baseball. He possesses broad shoulders, but his frame is overall fairly long, with his arms and legs possessing sinewy muscle that isn’t very noticeable at first glance. Due to his guitar playing, Mike’s hands are rough and calloused.

Facially, Mike is best described as having features that are chiseled, but still somewhat childlike in nature. While he has high cheekbones and a strong jaw, his face is still fairly rounded in nature, with a broad forehead and full lips. His eyes are a dark hazel, and his nose is straight and narrow. While he resembles his Caucasian father much more, the heritage of his mother is showcased through his narrow eyes and dark brown hair. His eyebrows are fairly thick, while his teeth are straight and white, the produt of braces and occasional whitening strips. His hair is short, wavy, and one of the places in which Mike puts in much more care than the rest of his appearance. With the liberal use of hair wax, he usually leaves it lightly tousled and high on his head, making sure to wash and moisturize it regularly to keep it healthy. Mike's face is typically kept clean-shaven, he has in the past attempted to grow facial hair, but it has always come out fairly fuzzily and inconsistently, and so has decided not to bother. Around George Hunter, Mike is considered fairly handsome, although not particularly striking.

Mike’s sense of clothing is fairly understated and somewhat plain in nature. Shopping more for cost-efficiency rather than any particular desire to look fashionable, his attire consists of a variety of button-downs, t-shirts, skinny jeans, and sneakers. On the day of the abduction, Mike was wearing a white slim-fit long sleeved t-shirt with green sleeves, black skinny jeans, and white low-top sneakers with white ankle socks. The sleeves were rolled up to mid-forearm. On his right wrist, there were two black rubber wristbands, and a red and black flannel shirt was tied around his waist.

Vocally, Mike’s voice carries a recognizable twang, and is somewhat low in pitch and nasal. When excited or stressed, however, his voice tends to become higher, and his hand gestures growing more animated. As a singer, he possesses a high baritone voice with a warm tone, although he has a tendency to lose vocal control when belting for extended periods of time.

Biography: Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on November 6, 2000, Mike has lived in the city his entire life. His parents, Tom and Hidilyn Brown (nee Velasquez) met through a mutual friend, who was one of Tom’s fellow park rangers, and a fellow Filipino-American who knew Hidilyn through various Hamilton County-area functions. Presently, Tom has continued his work as a park ranger, and Hidilyn works as a paralegal in a local law firm.

Within his family, Mike is the second of two children, younger than Thomas (21). His closest familial relationships are with his mother and older brother, although he is still friendly with his dad. Financially, the Browns have remained steady members of the middle-class, living in a suburb just outside of Chattanooga.

From his birth, Mike had always been a relatively calm presence. A relatively unfussy baby, his parents were grateful for the relative ease they had in raising him, and his parents rewarded him by being relatively less demanding with him. When he entered elementary school, he was quickly noted as a friendly and well-behaved student, although one that would often simply follow the crowd when it came to pick answers. While sometimes he would get in trouble by talking too much with his friends, by and large, he remained a well-liked student by teachers, if one who was quite average scholastically.

While sociable, Tom was worried about the lack of physical activity Mike was getting, as he preferred to sit and talk and was generally sedate. Due to this, Tom signed his son up for a local tee-ball league at the age of 7, hoping to expand his physical horizons, and due to Tom’s fond memories of his past as a college baseball player. Additionally, as Thomas already played baseball, he thought that it would be the most cost-effective sport for him to play. To Mike’s surprise, he fell in love with the sport, the generally staggered pace allowing him time to focus when needed. His friendly nature also meant that he was quick to bind with many of his other teammates, and although not the most talented, his willingness to work with others meant that he saw steady play. By the time he reached middle school, he was part of a local Little League team, where he performed decently as a relief pitcher. While not the most naturally gifted, he worked hard outside of practice in order to keep up with the rest of his team.

Throughout his elementary school life, Hidilyn was the most consistent parental presence in Mike’s life, due to Tom’s long working hours, and lack of involvement in Mike’s life outside of baseball. A second generation Filipino-American, she attempted to impress on Mike the importance of faith, bringing him to weekly masses every Sunday at the Roman Catholic church nearest to them. While this did not result in him becoming very devout, he was intrigued by the music of the choir, and although he did not wish to join the choir himself, this began a lifelong passion for music. This was supported by Hidilyn - as a teenager, she had won numerous Chattanooga-wide singing competitions, and once harbored dreams of becoming a recording artist. However, while she supported his singing, she was keen to enforce the idea that there was no way a music career would be feasible, allowing him to pursue it as a creative outlet and nothing else. As such, many of his musical influences were those who his mother listened to frequently, which were primarily country crooners like Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton. Mike possessed a naturally resonant voice, though much of his singing experience at this stage was limited to singing at home or at family events.

Due to this, much of the music he listened to was driven by guitars, and so Mike wanted a guitar of his own. After much badgering, Mike was given an acoustic guitar for his 11th birthday. While beginning to learn to play was difficult at first, especially because he had to share his room with his older brother, through online research and videos, he was able to make himself a fairly proficient guitar player. With the guitar, he also felt much more comfortable performing, able to use it to prevent his hands from wandering during performances. As such, it was with the guitar that he was able to branch out of solely performing for his family, even entering the middle school talent show to showcase his music. While he did not win, finding the courage within himself to perform in front of a larger audience gave him much more confidence in his music as a whole.

Middle school was largely much of the same for Mike, retaining a fairly high position on the social pyramid due to his relaxed, friendly attitude and status as a member of the baseball team. While most of his friends were fellow athlete, he tried to make himself available to talk to anyone who was willing, resulting in him having a fairly large web of social connections, even if it was just as friendly acquaintances. Academically, he continued on the same track he always had, remaining at a high C to low B average, with teachers finding that his laidback attitude often inhibited him from turning work above a simply decent level, often coasting by with a passing grade and not much else. While still a largely pleasant presence in the schedule, his lack of passion for any particular subject resulted in these mediocre showings. Additionally, with the increased stratification of social groups in middle school, Mike’s passivity became more pronounced. With many friends and friendly relationships, making decisions between the two were quite difficult for him, resulting in him gaining a reputation as a ditherer, although most still viewed him in a largely positive light, however.

Besides this, however, middle school also provided Mike with a new revelation: his sexuality. Reasonably attractive and friendly, romantic overtures made to him by his female classmates in 8th grade resulted in awkwardness for both parties, and a growing panic settling in for him. While he never had explicitly thought about his sexuality, by and large, he assumed he was straight, and these moments wound up being an eye-opening experience for him. While he internally accepted, after a few lingering looks in the locker room, that he was attracted to the male and not the female form, he had many more issues with how others would perceive him. For him to come out would mean risking his reputation, and his friends, and so for the time being, he decided to keep himself in the closet.

At George Hunter, Mike largely enjoys a positive reception. Continuing from his elementary and middle school days, he is a relief pitcher on the baseball team, and remains as spirited as ever as a player. While still not a stand-out, his calmness and positive energy means he remains in good stead with both players and coaches, and is often the one fellow members go to for advice. Continuing with his music, although originally inspired by old-school country music, Mike’s musical tastes began to shift towards more pop-influenced fare as dictated by his friends, his passivity continuing in this vein. As such, though, most of the music he began playing instead shifted to songs by artists like Chase Rice and Dan + Shay, largely lighthearted tunes which he regularly performs at school events or at parties.

Outside of school, though, Mike has began posting covers himself singing, accompanied by guitar, on YouTube since sophomore year. While internally proud of having a place to show his work, by and large, he does not share this information with anyone except close friends, although most know about the fact that he plays guitar and sings. Despite his love for music, Mike has never taken to songwriting, only posting covers - this is due to a combination of his mother’s teachings as well as a general lack of ambition. Already comfortable with his present status, he feels no need to continue pursuing music in the future, feeling that it both represents too much of a risk and time investment to work out for him.

Still retaining the same social patterns that he had in middle school, he quickly found himself being invited to parties - and finding himself enjoying the experience. Already fairly fond of leaving major decision-making duties to others, the large environment of parties meant that it was relatively easy to go along with the crowd and do whatever. He also finds that alcohol makes it easier for him to both interact and be interacted with, liking the way it acts as a social lubricant. Additionally, he occasionally does bring out his guitar and play at parties, although this only happens when he feels up for it and confident. While initially assisted by Thomas in his attempts to procure alcohol, since his graduation, Mike largely refrains from doing so, out of fear that without another person to assist, he will be discovered, resulting in parental consternation, especially from his mother.

At the beginning of junior year, Mike decided to come out as gay, first to his family, and then to his closest friends. Within his family, all were shocked, and although his brother was the quickest to announce his support, both his parents came relatively quickly around to the idea, promising that they would love him no matter who he was. Despite this, there now exists some awkwardness around discussions of Mike’s romantic life, especially with as Hidilyn remains a devout Catholic. Still, they are largely supportive in his endeavors.

The baseball team, too, largely rallied around Mike, and without the burden of having to keep this secret, he feels more able to contribute to the team. Despite this, he has refrained from joining the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, being naturally avoidant to conflict and worrying that doing such a thing would only increase the divide. Despite being out now, though, Mike has still primarily refrained from participating in any romantic or sexual relationships, feeling that it might be better to just start fresh when he gets to college.

At the beginning of high school, Mike’s academic performance was largely similar to his in previous years - namely, low Bs and high Cs. With college applications coming up, however, his parents tried to encourage him to find subjects he was passionate about in order to improve his performance. While he didn’t find any such thing, their reminding was enough to get him to improve his study habits to leave him with a B average, occasionally going higher in subjects such as English.

While largely aimless, Mike’s grades proved decent enough to get him admitted to UT-Knoxville, where he has remained undeclared. His plans to try out for the baseball team are a given, but his relative uncertainty about the rest of his life goals have left him fairly confused in the final months of senior year.

Despite this, his familial relationships have remained as strong as ever. Tom and Mike still bond over watching baseball together, while Hidilyn remains a constant source of comfort and advice. Although Thomas and Mike have grown apart somewhat due to Thomas’ attendance of UNC-Chapel Hill, they still retain a fairly close brotherly relationship, with weekly video calls between the two.

Advantages: Friendly and sociable, Mike has largely avoided making any enemies at George Hunter, and has a wide supply of relationships to potentially call on for support. Years of baseball training mean that he is both able to run quickly over short distances, and an above-average throwing arm.

Disadvantages: While friendly and relatively popular, Mike has developed a reputation as someone who is indecisive, leaving others potentially on guard about relying on him. Largely passive, he may fail to take initiative in important situations before it is too late.

Designated Number: Male student No. 081

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Designated Weapon: Air horn

Conclusion: Wanna hear the most annoying noise in the world? Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking about the air horn, I was referring to country music. - Josh Baines

'The above biography is as written by Somersault. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Somersault

Kills: 

Killed By: 

Collected Weapons: Air horn (assigned weapon)

Allies: Angie Cortez, Ramsey Cortez

Enemies: 

Mid-game Evaluation: Mike was somewhat slow to gather his wits out the gate, and took to walking it out to try and sort out thoughts that had quickly become fatalist. He knew his fate would have to be in somebody else's hands, and he quickly found that someone else: Connor Lorenzen, who Mike was quick to trust as a one of the school's leader figures. They settled to talk, joined by Matthew Hunt and Regina Petrov.

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes:

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Mike, in chronological order.

The Past:
 * Hiya sa Timog
 * gonna take my horse to the old town road

V7:
 * Steady As She Goes
 * ...And You’re Miles and Miles from Your Nice Warm Bed
 * Sink or Swim, Better Dive Right In
 * Oh Love, Where Do I Fall?
 * Binary Suns
 * Bells of War

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Mike Brown. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''